Lost’s Yunjin Kim on the Sun-Jin Reunion You’ve Been Waiting Three Years For

We were promised answers in last week’s episode of Lost — and we got a couple, we think? — but we mostly ended up with even more questions. What else is new? Tonight’s episode, “Dr. Linus,” focuses on everyone’s favorite former leader of the Others turned European history teacher, Ben Linus. This week Vulture spoke to Yunjin Kim, who plays the show’s Sun-Hwa Kwon (or, in the flash sideways, is it Sun-Hwa Paik?). Kim discussed tonight’s episode and Sun’s love-hate relationship with Ben, and told us, yes, Sun will eventually reunite with Jin — but not how you might expect.

What can you tell us about tonight’s episode, “Dr. Linus”? ABC had us speak to Hiroyuki Sanada last week and then his character was killed. We hope that’s not a trend.
I’ll still be standing. First of all, in flash sideways, Ben is very different from the Benjamin Linus that we’ve known. We see that with certain characters, they live a very different life in the flash sideways. On the island he does go through sort of a soul-searching moment … I should leave it there.

Do you at least get to hit Ben with an oar again?
You know, I was kind of hoping that would happen. I think where Sun and Benjamin Linus stand at this point, I think we’re okay.

Well it was starting to almost become a Moe and Curly type relationship. Anytime Ben would speak, Sun would hit him with something.
Yeah! It’s like, “What?! Did you say something?” Wham! And I think Benjamin Linus has been asking for it for some time.

After a pretty crazy episode like last week’s “Sundown,” do you ever find yourself on set asking, “Wasn’t this show about a plane crash at one point?”
I know what you mean [laughs]. What happened to the lack of water and food? What happened to the basic problems? I guess the show’s gotten so complicated, as far as the story line, and so many characters crisscrossing each other’s lives, and now we went from flashback to flash forward and now we’re at flash sideways. So, yeah, it’s all very complex … but interesting.

The change in Sun’s character over the six seasons is quite drastic. She’s gone from almost timid — at least around Jin — to the island’s resident badass.
I agree. It’s been a pleasure figuring her out and learning more about her as the seasons went on. I think out of all the characters — not to compare or anything — I think Sun’s developed more out of all the characters on the island.

Sun speaks with a more American accent than she did in the early seasons. Was that your decision?
In season one it was 2004. If she’s been speaking English on the island with all the other characters for so long, and after the Oceanic Six actually got to leave the island and come back after three years — I’m just trying to make the progress as far as Sun’s language ability. I don’t think it was addressed in the script, I just thought it would be a little more interesting.

We discussed this with Daniel Dae Kim a few weeks ago, but it was shocking to see the more passive Sun and arrogant Jin in the first episode this season.
Well, I was hoping for something different. What we got in the beginning — kind of repeating the first season — I was kind of disappointed. I thought in the flash sideways he would be a little different. But then when we [filmed] more of a detailed episode of Sun and Jin, it explained a lot of things. Which is coming up, I think it’s [the tenth episode]. You will definitely see a different side to both characters.

The last time we saw Sun in the flash sideways, she was going through customs. The customs agent called Sun by her maiden name, Paik. Jin and Sun aren’t married in the flash sideways?
They do have a very different relationship. Let’s just put it that way.

That’s a very cryptic answer …
The hardest thing about being on this show … You get excited about talking about a certain circumstance, then you realize you weren’t supposed to talk about it. Or you’re so guarded not to give anything away, you’re not completely open. Today I have to do the interview for our final DVD interview and I thought, Why can’t I do this after I’ve read the finale so I can finally know what I’m talking about.

We saw Jin at customs, and then we saw him last week tied up in the back room of a kitchen.
Right, that’s not the sequence. You’ll see what happens in between in the Jin and Sun episode.

“Kwon” appears written on the cave as a possible candidate to protect the island. Let’s assume it is Sun and not Jin, she would be the only woman on the list. Is this a job she even wants?
Well, if Sun does become the candidate, I think she’s definitely representing [laughs], being the only woman on the list. And I think it will be a very peaceful island. I think Sun will protect the island but share it at the same time, not keep other people away from the island. I think she’ll have a very different take on how she protects it and shares the island.

Are we ever going to see Jin and Sun reunited?
I know, it’s been so long. It will happen, but not quite the way I think the viewers would expect.

Will why Sun didn’t time travel back to 1977 with everyone else on the plane be explained?
I think the only reason for the writers to keep them apart is so that when we do reunite, it will be that special. That’s the only logical reason in my mind.

Were you at all affected by the tsunami warnings triggered by the Chilean earthquake?
I had a night scene that night. I got home around 2:30 a.m., went to bed, and I got up around 6:00 a.m. because there were so many announcements and the siren going on. It woke me up and I was just waiting in my building to see if I should evacuate or not. But nothing really happened here in Hawaii, thank God.